The Fox Lake Focus is a part of the
Middle Woodland pattern,
Lake Michigan phase, and
Southern Minnesota aspect. The
Fox Lake people were a migratory people. They moved from the Pedersen and
Mountain Lake sites, in Southern Minnesota, to somewhere farther south and
warmer. Fox Lake people probably setup a base camp in the area during the
spring and stayed until fall.
The primary source of food was bison. The Bison were hunted away from the main camp and then butchered in the field. The appendages, meat, hide, etc. were brought back to camp. The large number of appendage bone pieces and much smaller number of body bone pieces found at the campsite shows this. To supplement their diet the Fox lake people hunted muskrat and other small game as well as gathering from the local flora. Shoreline fishing was substantial as well, based on the number of remains found at the sites.
The area they lived in had many resources. The area has prairie, deciduous woodlands, marshy fens, and lake/stream resources. It is not known exactly where the Fox Lake people went in the winter months, but it is likely they traveled somewhere with more woodland creatures (elk, deer, etc.) and where the lakes and stream didn't freeze over completely.
"Fox Lake Subsisteence and Settlement: New Evidence from Southwestern Minnesota" Orrin C. Shane III, The Minnesota Archaeologist, p45-52 Vol 41 No 1 Spring/Summer 1982.